


It's Been You

by Perpetual Motion (perpetfic)



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Barisi Prompt Bingo, M/M, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:53:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23623456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perpetfic/pseuds/Perpetual%20Motion
Summary: The moment Rafael and Sonny realize they're soulmates. (Mid-ep for 17.1).
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 19
Kudos: 114
Collections: April 2020 Barisi Bingo





	It's Been You

Despite the myths, it's not the first touch or the first glance or the first words one soulmate says to another. Instead, it's a touch or a word or a glance that carries true meaning that will spark the soulbond between people. The gift of a soulmate is not about an instant connection but the knowledge that forging one's own connections is what makes the bond so valuable. You must first choose to have any relationship and set its boundaries before the soulbond will show you the person with whom you can truly be free to reinvent them completely if you so choose.

Rafael has always appreciated the actual ways a soulbond works. He finds comfort in the fact that should his ever flare, it won't be some instant commitment to another person he doesn't even know. The Soulmance shelves at the bookstores may make bank with their instant connection nonsense, but Rafael has never seen the appeal. You can have an instant connection with just about anyone as long as you're not a total asshole. That doesn't mean they're going to be actually capable of tackling the trust, emotions, and commitment that go into a healthy bond.

When Sonny sits Rafael down and tells him he took the Bar, tells him if he passed it has a lot to do with Rafael's help, Rafael expects the warm tightness in his chest to slowly diffuse as it always does. Sonny's the most surprising connection Rafael's ever made. He's so honest and cares so deeply, but he also knows when Rafael's snark is a friendly game and gives back as good as he gets. He delights in Rafael pushing him to think faster and better. And he pushes back on Rafael the same. Except he pushes Rafael to be kinder. To himself, most of all, Rafael has figured out over the year plus they've known each other.

And so Rafael expects the tight warmth in his chest to dispel as it always does. But instead, it feels like it's pushing past his ribs and through his skin, and when he looks down, he's surrounded by the golden glow of his bond activating, and when he looks in amazement at Sonny, he sees him glowing the same.

"Shit," Sonny says. He laughs, and golden tendrils curl out his mouth and wrap around Rafael's head like a crown.

"Eloquent as always," Rafael replies, his own laugh wrapping tendrils over Sonny's shoulders and sliding into his hair.

Sonny holds out his hand, and Rafael meets him halfway. The way they've always met, Rafael thinks suddenly. No quarter given, but none stolen, either. He wonders if it's this bond now fully alive between them that made it so easy to find their rhythm.

Sonny's hand is warm. Their two golden auras linking over their wrists and travelling up each other's arms. A moment later, there's a sharp glow on their forearms, even through the layers of their suits.

Rafael isn't surprised that Sonny let's go of his hand to peel off his jacket and undo his cuff. Rafael doesn't have the same need to see what their shared mark is. He can see it on Sonny's arm first. That feels right.

Sonny rolls up his sleeve and holds out his arm so Rafael can see. 

"Oh," Sonny says. "Wow."

Rafael can only nod in agreement. It's the scales of justice, but they're filled with food and books and flowers. Rafael can practically smell the lilies and taste the cut of lamb. He can feel the cheap pulp of a mass market paperback under his thumbs and hear the quiet, steady sounds of someone working confidently in a kitchen.

Rafael has no words, so he goes for instinct. He holds Sonny's wrist steady and kisses the center of the mark.

"Wow," Sonny says again, then his fingers are tipping Rafael's chin up, and he waits for Rafael's nod before kissing his mouth.

The golden aura lights up soft and welcoming behind his eyes, and Rafael finally finds the words. "Well, what do you know?" He murmurs as he opens his eyes and meets Sonny's pleased look.

"I know however this trial goes, you're gonna let me help you celebrate or commiserate," Sonny says.

And Rafael's favorite piece of this moment is that those words would have been true even without the bond showing them how right they've gotten it. But now he gets to kiss the smile on Sonny's face as he hums agreement.


End file.
